Narendra Modi: New curriculum in Indian schools by 2022, concentrate on a child's holistic development and not marks

Schools in the country will adopt the new curriculum by 2022, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a conclave on 'School Education in 21st Century' by the Education Ministry. He added that the National Education Policy 2020 has sown the seed for a new era and is designed to direct the 21st-century man in the right direction. His audience included the Minister of Education Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre and teachers from various schools. 

"The NEP is designed keeping in mind the need of the new India. Around 5 years of effort went into designing this. People from all walks of life have worked day and night towards this," he said. He added that the NEP is just the beginning and the real work is yet to begin.

Expanding on the various aspects of the new policy, which was drafted by a committee headed by former ISRO Chief Dr K Kasturirangan, Modi said, "We need teachers right from the pre-school level who focus on fun-learning, activity-based learning and discovery-based learning." He added that the emphasis must be given to holistic learning than mark sheet. "A test and a mark sheet cannot be a parameter to judge a child's mental development," he said.

The Prime Minister also narrated a story from the life of social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's life to make his point on real-world learning. "As an eight-year-old, Vidyasagar didn't know English. Once he was going to Kolkata with his father and saw English numbers written on Milestones. 'What is written?' he asked his father. His father told him that this was the distance to Kolkata. On the way, his father kept on reading aloud the English numbers on each milestone. By the time they reached Kolkata, he had learnt to count in English," he said.

Modi added why it is necessary to develop mathematical thinking and scientific temperament among children. "Mathematical thinking does not only mean that children solve Mathematics problems. But it is a way of thinking. We have to increase easy and innovative methods. We must encourage them to 'Engage, Explore, Experience, Express and Excel'," he said.